Do I need a 3 point quick hitch?

   / Do I need a 3 point quick hitch? #21  
The day, the 3PH (or Ferguson System) is gone from the Earth will be a good day indeed. Too bad we got stuck with that for so long. I use a quick tach with top tilt and it makes the 3PH bearable. The heavier the attachments (as in, you can't budge them) the worse the 3PH struggle gets. I personally, don't understand why going only half way (well really 2/3) to a Pats rather then to total quick tach.
 
   / Do I need a 3 point quick hitch? #22  
Well...i don't agree with you,I am in the opposing corner.
I personally don't see the utility of these so call quick hitch or quick attach...unless you change implements multiple times in a row each day...which is far from my case.
To each is own !
 
   / Do I need a 3 point quick hitch? #23  
If you use your tractor a lot the quick hitch allows you to change implements on a whim. Not so easy with Pats or a standard hitch. Quick and easy changes for my use save a lot of time drop a landplane and pick up the heavy roller only requires a minute or two without leaving the cab.
 
   / Do I need a 3 point quick hitch? #24  
Well...i don't agree with you,I am in the opposing corner.
I personally don't see the utility of these so call quick hitch or quick attach...unless you change implements multiple times in a row each day...which is far from my case.
To each is own !

I got my Harbor Freight quick hitch primarily to deal with my 500lb 54" tiller. Can't leave it on to mow, and it's on/off several times between our garden, gardens for other people, and just ballast for the loader. When it doesn't sit level it's a real pain in the *** to get the lift arms to line up with the pins. Ever try to juggle a 500lb implement by yourself, line the pins up, and toggle the 3pt height all at the same time? How about being able to just back up and lift? Even if it's not level, one of the lift pins will drop into the QH first while lifting up to seat the other. Even if it's not perfect a good 3pt bounce, kick or shove usually drops it into place. If all else fails the top hook can lift for moving it around. Now I don't need a perfectly level concrete pad to park the tractor on for putting it on or taking it off. Same for the heavy ballast box and the rear blade. I just block everything at the right height, pull the levers, drop the 3pt, drive way, back up to the next, flip levers back down, lift, drive away. Don't even need to get off the tractor except for the tiller's PTO.
 
   / Do I need a 3 point quick hitch? #25  
If you use your tractor a lot the quick hitch allows you to change implements on a whim. Not so easy with Pats or a standard hitch. Quick and easy changes for my use save a lot of time drop a landplane and pick up the heavy roller only requires a minute or two without leaving the cab.

I have a Pat's and think it is easy and very quick to hook up implements. Though I don't know why all tractors don't come with that type of hookup. I honestly didn't know the balls were the norm because the 770 Oliver came with a system that was a lot like a Pat's except they were arms you could flip easily and go from a cat 1 to a cat 2 in a couple of minutes. Why in god's name they still use balls I have no idea.
 
   / Do I need a 3 point quick hitch? #26  
Well...i don't agree with you,I am in the opposing corner.
I personally don't see the utility of these so call quick hitch or quick attach...unless you change implements multiple times in a row each day...which is far from my case.
To each is own !

Most of my tractor implements weigh 600-900lbs. I cannot move these around (on dirt) by hand or even shove them to get into place, even if it's half an inch away. On two previous tractors with extendible draft links I found it took 10-20 minutes to change implements, between very careful backing up and a lot of fiddling and shoving with the draft link ends, and I was storing everything on pallets as level as possible and as accessible as possible. And without extendible draft links it would have been all but impossible.

The only good workaround I found was to store my flail mower on moving dollies inside a barn with a level concrete floor. That way, despite the 700lb weight, I could move the mower right into position and hook up very quickly. But dollies cost money and it's not practical to store really large implements like rotary cutters in this way, nor did I have a large enough barn to have all my implements inside, on that level concrete floor.

There are at least two different quick hitch systems available (ASAE and ISO) and both of them look very effective, with their own individual merits. I think it would be a plus if all tractors simply came with one. Failing that, I think a quick hitch is $100-300 well spent.
 
   / Do I need a 3 point quick hitch? #27  
I am becoming less and less of a fan of my quick hitch. It is annoying or impossible in some instances.
 
   / Do I need a 3 point quick hitch? #28  
I am becoming less and less of a fan of my quick hitch. It is annoying or impossible in some instances.

Other than older implements that may not work with a quick hitch...when is it annoying or impossible?
 
   / Do I need a 3 point quick hitch? #29  
Well, older implements that don't fit because sizes are not standardized is part of the problem. So, I converted them, though it was just luck that the could be converted at all.

Then there is the problem with newer implements (~4 yrs old). In my case a simple rotary mower that won't work as well. It wouldn't work with the original toplink because that was a floppy thing that would allow the tail of the mower to rise when going over a bump. Removing that and using a fixed pin is simple enough, but the lower hooks are blocked from engagement by reinforcing gussets that are part of the mower's structural support. I could get a cutting torch and cut the gussets. but that would weaken the whole operation. And then I have to come up with someway of allowing the top-link play so I don't bridge the mower when coming down off a rise. Doable, but a PITA. And that doesn't solve the gusset problem.

And then there is the issue that for all implements, the top link has to be adjusted right or it will over- or undershoot the top link hook up when the side-link hooks are aligned, so I have to get off the tractor most of the time anyway. No big deal really but it somewhat defeats the purpose of the QH. Nothing a couple hundred or more wouldn't fix with the installation of rear remotes (more than the two already in use) and a hydro top link.

What would have been better, in hindsight, would be quick-links or whatever they are called that allows one to slide each side link ball out to engage and then snap into place when the tractor is backed up after connection. I may go this route yet.
 
 
 
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